Work-holder for sewing-machines.



No. 727,526. PATENTED MAY-5,1903.

- M. B. WOODRUPP.

WORK HOLDER FOR SEWING MACHINES.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 24, 1902.

N0 MODEL m: norms PETERS 00.. morauma, WASHINGTON. D, c.

UNrrnn STATES Patented May 5, 1903.

PATENT CFFIcE.

WORK-HOLDER FOR SEWING-MACHINES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 727,526, dated May 5, 1903.

Application filed March 24, 1902. Serial No. 99,657. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that I, MAY B. Woonnurr, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Milwaukee, in the county of Milwaukee and State of Wisconsin,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Work-Holders for Sewing-Machines; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof.

My invention relates to devices for holding the sewed fabrics as work thereon progresses on a sewing-machine; and it consists in certain peculiarities of construction and combination of parts, as will be fully set forth hereinafter in connection with the accompanying drawings and subsequently claimed.

In the said drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view of my said device in operative position with the net or work-holder proper indicated in dotted lines. Fig. 2 is a detail view showing a fragment of said net or holder and illustrating the preferred means of securing the same to the supporting rods and laces of the device.

Referring by letter to the said drawings, a a represent a pair of clamps, each being formed with a vertical portion 1), having upper and lower arms 0 cl integral therewith, the arms a being adapted to rest upon the sewingmachine table and to be secured thereto by means of the screws 6, which pass up through the lower arms d and are preferably provided with swiveled disks f at their upper ends to guard against marring the table. Each of theclamps a a has a lug g at about the center of its vertical portion b, said lug being formed with a vertical bore therethrough and there being a guard-flange h projecting laterally from said vertical portion 1) at one side of said lug g and extending beyond and above the said lug. Two supporting-rods i "L, which serve to stretch and support the net or holder, as hereinafter described, are each formed with a downturned inner end j, this end being preferably round in cross-section and being slipped through the vertical bore in the lug g and then receiving a surrounding spiral spring 7t and a stop-lug m, secured to the rod end j so as to project in the opposite direction from the guard flange 7i and to bear against the vertical portion b of the clamp when the device is in operative position, as

best shown in Fig. 2. The rods 6 are formed or provided adjacent to their inner ends with loops or eyes it and at their outer ends with loops or eyes 0, through which are threaded the laces p.

The work-holder proper, q, is preferably formed of a strip of netted fabric for lightness and convenience of adjustment, though it may be of other fabric, if desired in any particular case; but when a net is employed, as

herein illustrated, the end edges of the net are folded over the rods t' c' and the laces p p are threaded in and out of the meshes of the doubled portions, as shown in Fig. 2, the two ends of each lacing-cord being then carried through the loops or eyes it 0 on the rod and threaded in and out of the meshes of the side edges of the net, (which need not be doubled unless desired to make a hem,) the ends of the opposed laces meeting at the center and there being tied, as shown in Fig. 1. It will thus be seen that the clampsa a may be placed any desired distance apart on the sewing-machine table and the rods 'i 2' held stiffly in place by means of the engagement of their inner ends against the guard-flanges h h and of the stop-lugs m in against the vertical portions .1) b of the clamps, the springs k serving to prevent the accidental rise of the rods o' 11 above the plane of said guard-flanges h h when the device is in use and yet permitting such upward movement of the rods to enable the rods "i 2' to be folded inward past each other, withthe net or work-holder secured thereto close to thesewing-machine table,without detachment of the clamps therefrom when the device is not in use, the rods it then resting on top of the guard-flanges h h and against the adjacent vertical edges of the portions 1) b of the said clamps, whereby the attachment will occupy but little space and permit the sewing-machine to be pushed back against the wall of the room.

Ordinarily the laces p 10 will be drawn taut and fastened so that the side edges of the not will be held on the same plane as the end edges, as indicated by the continuous four straight dotted lines in Fig. 1; but, if desired, the laces may be fastened so as to sag down, (or the clamps a a. may be moved nearer together, which would accomplish the same result,) the adjustments in these respects being made according to the nature of the work to be supported at any particular time.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

11. The combination with a pair of attaching-clamps, of a pair of Vertically and laterally movable supporting-rods connected to said clamps, means for keeping said rods in a fixed extended position, and a work-holder attached to said rods.

'2. The combination with a pair of attaching-clamps, of a pair of vertically and laterally movable supporting-rods connected to said clamps, springs and lugs on said rods for consin, in the presence of two Witnesses.

MAY B. WOODRUFF.

Witnesses:

H. G. UNDERWOOD, EDw. L. WOODRUFF. 

